The present application relates generally to the cooling and/or lubricating of motor bearings and the preferred embodiments provide novel self-cooling and/or self-lubricating features in the context of heavy duty electric motor bearing systems.
In existing electric motors that are subjected to high speeds and/or that support high thrust loads, the motor bearings can be subjected to extreme conditions. For example, in certain large industrial vertical electric motors, the motors contain an upper bearing that is subjected to wear and heat. In order to address this difficulty, manufactures have developed external lubrication and external cooling systems that seek to reduce friction and heat generated within the bearing (i.e., due to movement of the rolling elements of the bearing that travel around internal bearing raceways). However, these external lubrication and external cooling systems have been complicated and costly to manufacture and have other drawbacks.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention overcome the above and/or other problems in the background art.